The Game Boy was successful out of the gate thanks to Tetris. It was the perfect game for portability as the puzzle nature of Tetris allowed for infinite replay value. Puzzle games work well on portables, but so do RPGs.
Players can pop on a movie, or something to lessen the repetitiveness of grinding levels. Unfortunately, the RPG library on the Game Boy was lacking for the first few years. The biggest RPG series on the handheld was the Pokemon games which didn’t get to the West until 1998. So, what were people playing before those juggernauts arrived?
8 Dragon Warrior 1 & 2
Dragon Warrior 1 & 2 is a collection for the Game Boy Color, remaking the NES originals. This was done previously in Japan only on the SNES which are graphically better. This collection remixes those SNES ideas and provides new ones too.
The third game also got a GBC remake after hitting up the SNES first. It’s worth noting that at this time the Dragon Quest series was still called Dragon Warrior in the West. It would remain under that banner until 2005 via Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King.
7 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets received a series of platformers on the console side of things just like its predecessor. However, the Game Boy Color game was more unique. Harry traversed the world in a top-down manner and solved puzzles similar to The Legend of Zelda series.
Combat was solved via turn-based battles though. This would happen again with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the Game Boy Advance. Even hardcore fans don’t know there were RPGs before Hogwarts Legacy.
6 The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls, or Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, is a Japan-only Game Boy title that is important in the portable’s history. It was made by Nintendo, making it one of the few instances of an internally developed Nintendo game that never left Japan.
Thankfully, fans have taken it upon themselves to translate it into English via fan patches. It is not out of the realm of possibility that this Zelda-infused RPG will get an official port or remake one day. If it can happen to Famicom Detective Club, it can happen to The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls.
5 Lufia: The Legend Returns
Lufia is an RPG series that never got its proper day in the sun despite numerous sequels. The RPG began on the SNES in 1993 via Lufia & the Fortress of Doom which would get a prequel in 1996.
Then, things grew quiet again until Lufia: The Legend Returns hit the GBC in 2001. It is a fairly standard turn-based RPG with a plot involving saving the world and the like. It’s nothing new but the music and bright aesthetics of the game help it stand above other GBC games of the time.
4 Metal Walker
Metal Walker was a forgotten Capcom RPG that stayed tucked away on the GBC. That is until it was re-released onto the Nintendo Switch’s Game Boy library. Even though it’s widely available for all online subscribers now, it still fits the spirit of this list as not even the port caused a ruckus.
The gameplay is unique for an RPG wherein players control a ball-shaped robot during turn-based combat. Players can choose its direction and it will ricochet off of opponents and walls like in a pinball game.
3 Pokemon Trading Card Game
As the intro stated, the biggest RPGs for the Game Boy were the core games of this series like Pokemon Red. Not a lot of players got into the digital version of the Pokemon Trading Card Game on Game Boy but they should have. The gameplay involves going around different gyms to collect badges to then take on a series of tournament fighters.
It’s just like the mainline games except without the catching or exploration mechanics. It did get a sequel on GBC, Pokemon Card GB2: Great Rocket-Dan Sanjo, which never left Japan but it has since been supported by fans with an English patch.
2 Revelations: The Demon Slayer
Revelations: The Demon Slayer is the first game in the Last Bible series of spinoffs from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. This was a GBC port of the original which was on the Game Boy first.
There are six games in all, but this is the only one that the West ever got. Players who are experienced with Shin Megami Tenseior Persona games should feel at home with this one. Explore a world, fight demons, recruit demons, and then try to stop gods from destroying the world.
1 Super Robot Taisen
This list is full of Japanese exclusives already and this game is perfect to end things on. It needs to be highlighted for cultural significance as this is the first one. Super Robot Taisen is a series of tactical RPGs that cross over game and anime series like Gundam.
Most of these games have stayed hidden in Japan, along with this one, but recently the newer games have been coming to PC at least like Super Robot Wars 30. Anime and tactical RPG fans alike should check that game out officially, but unofficially they should also look for a fan-patched version of Super Robot Taisen.